Wildcats,

I hope you were either able to join us in person or by the live web stream Monday morning when we introduced Adam Dorrel as our head football coach because if you missed it, you missed one of the great days in ACU Athletics history. If you’d like to re-live any of it, you can watch the press conference here or see a video recap of Adam’s day.

Standing in front of a great crowd in the atrium of the Hunter Welcome Center, Adam spoke from the heart about why he has chosen to move from a landmark NCAA Division II program in Northwest Missouri State University – the team won a third national championship this past Saturday – to become the head coach at ACU. He’s not only leaving the program for which he played and has served as a coached since 2004; he’s also leaving his hometown of Maryville, Mo., where his parents and brother still reside.

After more than a decade at Northwest Missouri, Adam said he felt his “candle wasn’t burning quite as bright” and that he needed to challenge himself professionally again. He chose ACU as his next step for several reasons, being impressed by the level of commitment the university is making to its football program as well as excited for the chance to work with the quality men and women of this community.

Ultimately, Adam said, he’s looking forward to being able to unashamedly incorporate his faith into his program. Before the press conference, as he met with current players, Adam laid out a plan that ensures that our vision of winning “at the highest level by providing the most Christ-centered student-athlete experience in collegiate athletics.”

As I told the crowd during my remarks Monday morning, as Wildcats and ACU lettermen and graduates, you should feel proud of your university for being able to attract such a quality candidate. Adam is the winningest college football coach in the nation (76-8, 90.5 winning percentage in six seasons), and he chose ACU. He’s looked at other jobs in the last few years, but none appealed to him.

“Follow your heart” was the advice legendary Northwest coach Mel Tjeerdsma gave Adam while he weighed a decision to take on this new career challenge at ACU. “My heart was calling me here,” Adam told us Monday morning, and we’re thrilled he and his family are our newest Wildcats.

Season ticket deposits
The 2017 football season is still nine months away, but we are already preparing for our first season in Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium. That means you need to start thinking about buying your season tickets for the historic first season in our on-campus venue.

Season ticket packages start as low as $75 with the deposit price for all seats set at $50. Wildcat Stadium will have a variety of seating options from general admission, to reserved and club seat availability. A season ticket deposit will guarantee your seat in the new stadium, and will give you priority over the general public when seat selection begins early next summer.

We will host five home games in 2017, beginning with the Sept. 16 home-opener against Houston Baptist and continuing with Stephen F. Austin (Sept. 23), McNeese (Oct. 7), Southeastern Louisiana (Oct. 21) and Sam Houston State (Nov. 11) at Wildcat Stadium. Ticket deposit questions should be directed to Becky Brown at 325-674-2287.

Wildcat Club member event
For the first time, we’ll be hosting a Member Appreciation Event for our charter members of the Wildcat Club. On Jan. 7, we’re hosting a key Southland Conference basketball doubleheader in Moody Coliseum, and we’ll host the member event between games. Both contests will be broadcast on ESPN3 as the women host University of Central Arkansas at 2 p.m. and the men play defending Southland champion Stephen F. Austin at 4:30 p.m.

Between games, we invite all members of the Wildcat Club (those who donate $100 or more per year to ACU Athletics) to a reception in Gym C of the Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center. We’ll have refreshments and distribute free Wildcat Club shirts and other membership benefits.

If you haven’t yet joined the Wildcat Club, you can do so here for as little as $100 per year. If you donate $100 or more before Dec. 31, then you can join us for the Jan. 7 event.

Athletic training taking a step forward
I’m pleased for ACU to be among a growing list of universities to partner with Vivature Sports of Dallas to apply the rapidly growing company’s software and billing solution to its athletics training operation. ACU Athletics will generate significant revenue from Vivature during the course of the three-year agreement to further enhance and invest in student-athlete care and welfare.

Vivature Sports is working with more than 200 colleges and universities around the nation in all divisions, operating revenue-generation programs for athletic training rooms and ensuring compliance with state and federal health care laws and regulations. The company has partnered with athletics departments at all levels including Penn State, Temple, George Washington, Northern Illinois, Mercer and Virginia Commonwealth, among others.

Two football games added in 2020, 2021
Last week, we secured a home-and-home contract with NCAA Division I FCS member Southern Utah University for football games in September 2020 and September 2021. The Thunderbirds are part of the Big Sky Conference, the same league that includes previous ACU opponents Northern Arizona University and the University of Northern Colorado.

Southern Utah was 6-5 in 2016 and reached the FCS playoffs in 2013 and 2015, losing in the first round each time to ACU’s Southland Conference rival, Sam Houston State.

Southern Utah will be in Abilene to play the Wildcats at Wildcat Stadium on Sept. 5, 2020, with ACU traveling to Cedar City, Utah, for a game on Sept. 11, 2021. The game in 2021 is one week after we play at SMU (Sept. 4 at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas).

Student-athlete graduates
It was an honor to attend our ceremony for the 18 student-athletes who graduated Dec. 9. This is the third time we’ve done one of these ceremonies, and they’ve quickly become my favorite part of each semester. It’s always exciting to recognize these outstanding young people for their academic diligence and accomplishments as they begin their promising careers or graduate studies.

Thanks to our academics staff – Lisa Gilmore, associate director of athletics for student-athlete welfare; Chris Ballard, assistant director of athletics for compliance; and Tori Cummings, academics coordinator – for their hard work in putting together such a great afternoon. And thanks to senior Josh Bloom for a fantastic speech about what he learned during his five years at ACU!

Our December 2016 graduates:

Marco Bensley (men’s tennis / business management)
Josh Bloom (football / interdisciplinary studies)
Kyle Carroll (baseball / psychology)
Jonathan Epps (football / interdisciplinary studies)
Diana Garcia-Munoz (women’s cross country and track and field / business management)
Allie Hackett (women’s cross country and track and field / financial management)
Michaela Hackett (women’s cross country and track and field / financial management)
Madison Hoover (volleyball / journalism)
Chartia Hurt (women’s track and field / sociology)
Kyle Karnei (golf / accounting and financial management)
Austin Kilcullen (football / journalism)
Parker McKenzie (football / nutrition)
Julia Montoya (softball / political science)
Sydney Newton (soccer / psychology)
Petrene Plummer (women’s track and field / kinesiology)
Rachel Shedd (soccer / teaching)
Dillon Vaughn (golf / business management)
Brandon Wilkins (golf / business management)

Personnel changes
For the last several years, Dr. Laura Phillips has served us well as the faculty athletics representative, helping take athletics program and student-athlete issues and concerns to the faculty for their consideration, and helping us improve day-to-day operations. However, she has decided to give up the position at the end of this school year. We will miss her and thank her for the difference she made in our work.

Dr. Jonathan Stewart from the College of Business Administration has been appointed by President Schubert to take her place, and we’re looking forward to working with him. He attends ACU Athletics events regularly, and we know he’ll be a tremendous advocate for the university and our programs.

On Jan. 3, we’ll welcome our new director of club sports, Todd Rodgers, to campus. Todd, an Abilene native, is a December 2016 graduate of Texas Tech University who has interned for us the last two summers. As you might recall, we announced in October that ACU Athletics will be overseeing the university’s club sports program, and Todd will be in charge of that area. We’re looking forward to having Todd back on campus!

Ryan Bowman, who has served the university and ACU Athletics in several roles since 2011, announced earlier this month that he is pursuing private business opportunities in the DFW Metroplex. We will miss Ryan and deeply appreciate the work he did for our program and our student-athletes, and know great things are in store for him.

Finally, Bre Nesselhuf – who had already been named our first women’s beach volleyball head coach – informed us last week that she is leaving for an opportunity as an assistant coach at the University of Wyoming.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas, and may all that is beautiful, meaningful and brings you joy be yours this holiday season.

Go Wildcats!

Lee De León
Director of Athletics
Abilene Christian University